by Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien, Aquidneck Indian Council
Fish (naumaùssuck)
|
Algonquian(∞ = oo as in food) |
Comment |
|
alligator |
kakadorôk (Wampano) |
Not indigenous to RI or MA |
|
bass |
· suggig (Wm. Wood) |
“a bass” |
|
bass, striped bass |
· missúckeke · missûckeke (Narr.) |
· “large striped” |
|
bluefish |
aquaundunt (Pequot) |
|
|
breame[2] |
sequanamâuquock (Narr.) |
plural, “Early Summer [Spring] fish” |
|
canoe (boat) |
· mish∞n[3] (or) mushoan = any large canoe or dugout · mishoòn = Indian canoe or dugout (Narr.) [see front cover] · mishoonémese[4] = smaller mishoòn (Narr.) · peenoon = small floater · mishíttouwand = great canoe[5] (Narr.) · peewàsu[6] = a little one (canoe) (Narr.) · paugatemissaûnd = oak canoe (Narr.) · kowwawwawând = pine canoe (Narr.) · wompmissaûnd[7] = chestnut canoe (Narr.) · wunnauanounuck[8] = a shallop[9] (Narr.) · wunnauanounuckquèse = a small shallop, skiffe[10] (Narr.) · kitônuck[11] = a ship (Narr.) · kitónuckquese = small ship (Narr.) · kunnósnep[12] (Narr) = anchor · wútkunck[13] (Narr) = paddle, “his wood stick” |
|
|
carp |
kikômkwa (Wampano) |
|
|
chub |
arnamaga (Wampano) |
|
|
clam |
|
|
|
codfish |
|
|
|
crab |
katawam ? |
Conjectured, reconstructed from a place name in Huden (p. 75) |
|
cunner[16] (chogsets) |
cachauxet (Pequot) |
“marked with spots or stripes” |
|
eel, eelpot |
mihtúckquashep[17] (Narr.) |
|
|
eel, larger eelpot |
kunnagqunneúteg[18] (Narr.) |
|
|
eels (plural) |
· neeshauóg & neeshaûog (Narr.) · sassammaúquock (Narr.) · nquittéconnauog & nquittéconnaûog (Narr.) |
· “go in pairs” · “smooth, slippery, glossy” · “goes by self” |
|
fish [19] |
· namohs · namohsog · naumaùs (Narr.) · naumaùssuck (Narr.) · kehtahhannâmagquog · mogkom · mogkommâquog · peeamaug (Pequot) |
· “water animal” · plural · · plural · plural, “large fish of the ocean” · “great fish” · “great fishes”, plural · “little fish” ; plural adds -suck |
|
fish fin |
wapwekan |
|
|
fish hook and line |
ôm |
|
|
fish, a fish-tail |
wussúckqun |
|
|
fish, a half fish |
poquêsu[20] |
|
|
fish, a sweet fat |
osacóntuck (Narr.) |
Like a haddock, and may also be the hake, pollack, whiting, or cusk fish.
|
|
fish, a whole fish |
missêsu[21] |
|
|
fish, bait |
onawangónnakaun (Narr.) |
|
|
fish, fresh fish[22] |
qunôsuog[23] (Narr.) |
plural |
|
fish, head of |
uppaquóntup (Narr.) |
|
|
fish, small winterfish (plural) |
moamitteaúg (Narr.) |
“black fish”? smelt? minnow? |
|
fish, winterfish |
paponaumsûog[24] |
plural |
|
fisherman |
n∞tamogquaenin |
from “he fishes” |
|
fishers, fishermen[25] |
aumáchick & natuckqunnuwâchick[26] (Narr.) |
|
|
fishing hook |
hoquaún[27] (Narr.) |
|
|
fishing hook, large one |
maúmacocks (Narr.) |
|
|
fishing hook, little one |
peewâsicks[28] (Narr.) |
|
|
fishing line |
aûmanep (Narr.) |
|
|
fishing net |
· âshâp · ashòp[29] (Narr.) |
hemp or fishing net |
|
fishing-net sinker (stone) |
assinab |
from “stone & net” |
|
flounder |
apaginamas (Wampano) |
|
|
freshfish (wintertime) |
qunôsuog |
plural, “long ones” |
|
frog |
· tinógkukquas · kopiauss (or) kupýãs (Pequot) |
“jumping animal” or “croaker” |
|
frog, small, toad |
tinnogkohteas |
see “frog” with “small’ added |
|
haddock (pollock, whiting or cusk?) |
pâkonnôtam |
|
|
herring |
· ômmis ? · aumsûog & munnawhatteaûg[30] (Narr.) |
· “small fish”? · plural |
|
horsefish |
séqunnock[31] (Narr.) |
plural, “Spring fish”; shell chopped up for fertilizer |
|
island |
· aquidne[32] · munnóh |
· “floating, suspended mass” · from “dry place” |
|
lampries |
· qunnamaug · qunnamáug (Narr.) |
· “long fish”, plural · |
|
lobster |
|
|
|
long clam |
sŭkkissŭog |
“he spittles or spits”, plural |
|
mackerel |
· wawwhunneke · wawwhunnekesûog (Narr.) |
· “he is fat” · “It is well-bodied”, plural |
|
menhaden (alewife) (plural) |
· aumaûog · munnawhatteaug |
· “alewife · “white or bony fish” (corn fertilizer, “he enriches soil”) |
|
otter |
nkèke |
“he scratches, tears” |
|
oyster |
· chūnk∞ · apwonnah · opponenaûhock[33] |
· · “he roasts” · plural |
|
perch |
mômôramagwsek (Wampano) |
|
|
periwinkles |
meteaûhock[34] |
Plural, “ear shaped shell”; the neck of shell gave “white wampum” beads |
|
pickerel |
qunosuog |
plural |
|
pike |
quinnoza (Wampano) |
|
|
polliwog |
agorraweji (Wampano) |
|
|
porpoises |
tatackommaûog[35] (Narr.) |
plural, “he strikes and strikes” |
|
quahog (see clam) |
|
|
|
quahog, purple rim of |
suckaûhock[36] |
|
|
salamander |
kakadorôksiz (Wampano) |
|
|
salmon (plural) |
· mishquammaùog · mishquammaúquock[37] (Narr.) |
“red fish” |
|
sand dune, bank, sand |
nágunt |
“sand” |
|
scallop |
kagadigen (Wampano) |
|
|
scuppaug (porgy) |
mishcúp |
related to “large” or “red” [see front cover] |
|
shad |
magahaghe (Wampano) |
|
|
shark |
mattaquab (language?) |
Can’t locate source for this word; perhaps from Micmac or other northern Algonquian languages |
|
sheepshead[38] |
taut (Narr.) |
|
|
smelt (see “fish, small winterfish (plural”) |
|
|
|
snail |
askequttum (Wampano) |
|
|
snapping or sea turtle |
torupe |
|
|
spring fish |
sequanamâuquock (Narr.) |
plural, “early summer fish” (bream?)10.0pt; |
|
sturgeon |
kaúposh[39] (Narr.) |
|
|
torchlight fishing |
wïkwâsin |
Wequai = light in Natick (Prince, 1907) |
|
trout |
mishūskou |
“red”, “turning back” |
|
turtle/tortoise |
tunuppasog[40] |
“near water”; Wampanoag clan animal |
|
water (fishing places) |
· paumpágussit[41] = sea spirit · kehtoh = ocean, “great unending thing” · wechêkum[42] = the sea, ocean (Narr.) · kítthan[43] = the sea, ocean (Narr.), from “extended” · nippe = fresh (drinking) water, from “sits still” · sepi = river (usually long one like the Conneticut river) · nippissipog = pond or small lake · massapog = big lake, “large body of still water” · sepues = brook, stream or little river · aucùp (Narr.) = cove or creek · aucuppâwese (Narr.)= little cove or creek” |
|
|
water mocassin |
nipiiskok (Wampano) |
“fresh water” + “snake” |
|
whale |
· p∞tâop · pôtoppauog (Narr.) |
· “he blows” (“thar she blows!”) · plural |
|
whalebone |
Waskèke (Narr.) |
|
|
white fish ( bony fish)
|
munnawhatteaug |
plural, “he enriches the earth”, a fish like a herring and also used as fertilizer |
|
winterfish |
paponoumsûog |
plural , “winter fish” |
[1] John Eliot translated the entire Bible into Natick dialect of the Massachusett (or Wampanoag) language.
[2] a European freshwater cyprinid fish (Abramis brama); broadly : any of various related fishes 2 a : a porgy or related fish (family Sparidae) b : any of various freshwater sunfishes (Lepomis and related genera); especially : BLUEGILL (Merriam-Webster Dict.)
[3] Root word is oon = “floater”.
[4] Plural, Mishoonémesash.
[5] Larger than mishoon? Some carried up to 40 men sometimes in a sea-fight.
[6] “It is little”.
[7] From chestnuts = “white-nut tree”.
[8] In the words for “boat” (shallop, skiff), we see a common root –ounuck, -onuck, meaning “vessel” in the sense of something which carries or transports; we get the word for “cradle board” (kóunuk) from this root. Native peoples created these words when they saw the large ships of the Europeans. They believed the Mayflower was an island with a large tree.
[9] A small open boat used by the English propelled by oars or sails and used chiefly in shallow waters. (Merriam-Webster Dict.)
[10] Any of various small boats used by the English; especially: a flat-bottomed rowboat. (Merriam-Webster Dict.)
[11] "A great carrying tree,” probably like the Mayflower.
[12] Word seems misspelled since we see root for “stone” (-sen-).
[13] "His wood stick".
[14] The “squirter, spittler”; imitative of spitting sound. A sweet shellfish loved by the Native peoples, but dug up by roaming English livestock (swine), the animal most hated by Indians for stealing their food.
[15] The first that comes before the Spring.
[16] A wrasse (Tautogolabrus adspersus) common along the northeastern U.S. and adjacent Canadian coast; any of a large family (Labridae) of elongate compressed usually brilliantly colored marine bony fishes that usually bury themselves in sand at night and include important food fishes as well as a number of popular aquarium fishes. (Merriam-Webster dict.)
[17] “Tree-wood net”.
[18] -qunne- = “long”; -eg means “the thing that is”.
[19] Look for the root for “fish” (-am- & -aum- & -om-) which implies fishing with a hook.
[20] “It is half” or “a part” in general.
[21] “It is large (the whole thing)” in general.
[22] They were taken in winter through the fresh-water ice. In Pequot, called quúnoose (“long nose”), the pickerel.
[23] “They are long”.
[24] “Frost fish”, “Tom Cod”, which migrates to brooks from the seas.
[25] Since verbs end in -chick, the usual suppositive mode is assumed, "They who fish; they who are fisherman".
[26] Since verbs end in -chick, the usual suppositive mode is assumed, "They who fish; they who are fisherman".
[27] Root hoq- means “hook-shaped”.
[28] Small things in general (basket, fish, &c.)
[29] Word also used for “flax” & “spider web”. Perhaps general name for vegetable fiber used to make rope, nets, etc., made from Indian Hemp (fibrous plants); also used a fish sinker called assinab (“stone net”).
[30] Literally “they enrich the soil” (used as fish fertilizer for corn, etc., a practice which they taught to the English, one of the many contributions of the First Americans to awaunagussuck on this land).
[31] “Summer long shellfish”.
[32] RI place name Aquidneck means “on the island” which show the stem Aquidn.
[33] “Shell fish to roast”.
[34] “Ear-shaped shell” [for white wampum beads; the shell also called a “whelk”].
[35] “He strikes and strikes the water”. The repetition of the first syllable tatackom (one porpoise) is a common feature in the Algonquian Indian languages, referred to as frequentative or reduplication. It is a way of describing or emphasizing something that is going on repeatedly or habitually. For example, momonchu (“he is always on the move”; “he is always moving”). Popowuttáhig (“drum”) is another example—emphasizing the repetition of the popow sound of a drum.
[36] Sucki- = "dark-colored" (purple); -hock = "shell, external covering". The dark purple wampum beads from this quahog shell were worth 3 to the English penny, or twice the value of the white beads.
[37] A place where salmon were caught is called Misquamicut (“place of the red fish”), Westerly, RI. It is seen that little corruption exists in the place name (not a common occurrence).
[38] A marine bony fish (Archosargus probatocephalus of the family Sparidae) of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U.S. that has broad incisor teeth and is used for food (Merriam Webster Dict.)
[39] Perhaps from “impenetrable back”. These large fish were sometimes hunted at night by torchlight.
[40] Trumbull seems to suggest this is animate, singular, but suffix –og suggests plural animate form.
[41] From pummoh (in Natick dialect), an old word meaning “sea”.
[42] Perhaps from a word used by coastal Indians meaning “it produces, gives“ fish.
[43] "Great expanse”. Plural kittannash.
Contact the author
Learn about the New England Algonquian languages Narragansett and Wampanoag
Visit the index of Indian tribes
Read our article submission guidelines
Would you like to help support our organization's work with endangered American Indian languages?